Team Structure in the Development of Game-Based Learning Environments

This study examines how development teams for digital game-based learning environments should be organized, arguing that such projects demand multidisciplinary expertise spanning learning theory, game design, art, programming, testing, and subject-matter knowledge, along with meaningful user participation. The authors note that prior research has largely overlooked team composition, positioning their work as a response to that gap. Drawing on software engineering, user-centered design, and entertainment game development literature, they ground their analysis in development and action research across three cycles of four small-scale projects, each involving fewer than ten people and lasting between four months and a year.

The central finding is that expertise in learning, content area, and game design was frequently insufficient or underused across three case projects: Gameli 1.0, Gameli 2.0, and the Social Responsibility and Peatland Adventure projects. Learning and content experts tended to serve in consultancy roles when the projects required more responsible positions, particularly during pre-production. Drawing on these experiences, the authors propose a general team structure for early-stage development comprising a management team, pre-production and production teams that include game design and software engineering expertise, and a design partner team that represents end users.

The evidence base is qualitative and limited in scale, drawing on observations, interviews, and project documentation from small teams, so its findings are best read as exploratory guidance rather than generalizable prescriptions. The scope centers on educational digital games developed in small-team settings rather than large commercial studios. The pre-production stage is characterized as a period for building shared understanding of project goals and common ground for implementing the final product, a framing that underpins the authors' argument for giving learning and content experts more substantive roles from the outset.